IN NORMAL circumstances it would be just an opportunity to recover from a National Cup semi-final, but UCC Demons and National Event Hire Neptune will sweep into Neptune Stadium on a wave of adrenalin for another derby game tomorrow night.

NEPTUNE are scheduled to travel to travel to Limerick tomorrow night to play UL Eagles in an eagerly-awaited Nivea for Men’s SuperLeague game.

NEPTUNE STADIUM, the arena that revolutionised Irish basketball and which is, to many, still the spiritual home of the game on this island, is 25 years old this weekend and it is fitting that the home team should host their long-time arch rivals, DCU Saints, in the Nivea for Men SuperLeague to tip off the celebrations this afternoon (4 pm).

FOLLOWING back-to-back losses to Killester in the cup and SuperLeague Coach Tony Hehir wants UL Eagles to refocus on the target which is now the NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague.

TOMORROW is Super Saturday for Irish basketball’s SuperLeague clubs, with the quarter-finals of the men’s National Cup throwing up interesting pairings.

NEPTUNE face an interesting scenario when they travel to Greendale tomorrow night to play HOOPS in the NIVEA for MEN Superleague.

WITH their defence of the national cup on course, UCC Demons will concentrate on getting their Nivea for Men’s SuperLeague campaign back on track when they travel to Dublin tomorrow evening to play Killester.

DEFENDING champions, UCC Demons, had to come from behind to defeat UCD/Marian and keep their early season record intact as the NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague as UL Eagles beat the other Cork team, Neptune for a third successive win.

NEW coach Pat Price will be hoping for an improved performance before the home fans when Neptune take on UL Eagles tomorrow night (8pm).

LIMERICK’s hoping to buck the trend and promote a soaring basketball success with a new Men’s Superleague outfit, the UL Eagles.

SOME old faces will be missing from the scene with the addition of some promising newcomers when the basketball’s Nivea for Men’s SuperLeague gets underway tonight.

TEAM Montenotte Hotel Cork will go down in the history books as one of the great teams in Irish basketball if they succeed in winning their third women’s National Cup in-a-row on Sunday.

EXPECT passion to rule when UCC Demons entertain Cork City rivals, Neptune, in the first derby game of the season at the Mardyke Arena tonight (8pm).

BEFORE the semi-finals two weeks ago, few would have predicted Team Montenotte Hotel from Glanmire would challenge UL Aughinish for the national cup title.

DEFENDING champions, UL Aughinish, are back in the final of the women’s cup after a comprehensive 84-62 victory over Bausch & Lomb Wildcats.

TONY HEHIR will find himself in an unusual situation in tomorrow’s National Cup semi-final between UL Aughinish and Bausch & Lomb Wildcats at the National basketball arena.

ABRAKEBABRA Tigers are braced for a backlash in Ballina tomorrow night when they play Merry Monk in the 11th round of the NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague.

BOTH the Abrakebabra Tigers coach Dave Falvey, and the Limerick Lions coach Tom Hehir were left holding their heads in disbelief after Tigers had snatched an 89-92 victory and the vital NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague points on the buzzer at UL Arena yesterday afternoon.

THE first cross-conference weekend in the NIVEA for Men SuperLeague season was disastrous for the teams from the South, who will be hoping to pick up the pieces when their paths cross again this weekend.

NEW NEPTUNE coach Sasa Punosevac, will be looking for more of the same when his side entertain his old club, DART Killester, at Neptune Stadium on Sunday.

WITH UCC Demons and Merry Monk Ballina waiting in the wings, the battle for the remaining semi-final places in the NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague reaches a climax tomorrow night, when Limerick Lions host DART Killester and Killarney’s Gleneagle Lakers travel to Dublin to play Roma St Vincent’s.

UL Aughinish 71 DART Killester 42

REVENGE will doubtlessly form the core of Tony Hehir’s pre-game speech ahead of tomorrow’s Women’s SuperLeague Cup Final.

SUE ALTMAN has won Irish hearts but now the American who scored 35 points for DART Killester against Carna Transport Mercy in their Superleague semi-final on Sunday wants to win a National Cup medal.

DEFENDING champions DART Killester and UL Aughinish, the side dethroned 12 months ago, will renew rivalry in the final of the Women’s SuperLeague Cup on Sunday week.

DART Killester 57 UL Aughinish 53

FOR three seasons UL Aughinish have ruled Irish women’s basketball with an iron fist. For that reason they remain hot favourites tonight as their defence of the National Cup gets underway against Vienna Woods Glanmire at the ESB Arena.

Brendan Mooney

University of Limerick67 Bausch & Lomb Wildcats42

UNIVERSITY of Limerick go into the semi-finals of the ESB Women’s National Cup this evening as the red hot favourites to retain the title they won last year. Since then they have won just about everything and are already defending their SuperLeague title from the front

SCRUFFY’S St. Paul’s qualified for the semi-final stages and a clash with the three time winners, Bausch & Lomb Wildcats after an impressive 77-67 victory over XLR8 Auto Drimnagh Dynamos in an exciting quarter final of the ESB Women’s Cup in Killarney.

UNIVERSITY of Limerick, last season’s team of the season, will launch a defence of their ESB women’s Superleague title tomorrow night with a home game against Scruffy’s St Paul’s.

The ESB women's Superleague gets underway this weekend, with eight teams participating for the 2004 title.